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For a limited time, you can get complete plans for this project FOR FREE by joining the DIY Studio Racks & Custom Furniture Forum. See details in the DIY Projects in the Studio topic. (Posted Feb 16, 2007)

Also check out All About Racks and Rack Rails - Everything you need to know about racks and rack rails for your home studio or pro audio studio -- especially if you're considering building it yourself.

The Goal

Better organize part of my home studio by building custom-fit studio rack furniture to house two of the keyboards (Ensoniq TS-12 and Roland D-20), studio monitors (speakers), and about 14 rack units worth of gear. When finished the keys of my larger keyboard should be 28 inches (711mm) from the ground (like a grand piano). Small footprint and quick & easy construction. Target price: less than US$100.

Note: The studio rack furniture I had built previously provided for a U-shaped studio design, which simply would not fit in the apartment (flat) we were moving to. This one takes up only as much space as absolutely necessary.

Tools? Drill, screwdriver, a couple of dowel hole alignment markers, and rubber mallet (optional). That's it. Literally. =)

Some handy supplies...
	$23.59	$15.51		$27.86

Before I get started, let me show you how it ends. Below is the completed furniture. (Excuse the ugly wallpaper -- it's not our fault.)

Completed desk

The Design

After measuring all the equipment, I settled for a design using two floor boxes each holding eight rack units with space at the bottom for "stuff." My keyboard controller, the weighted-key TS-12 straddles the two boxes and another thin shelf (bridge) sits above it to hold my old D-20 and the speakers. This design also allows the width of the unit to change based on personal preference and makes the piece easier to transport-- important because I was about to be moving cross country. (Why was I building furniture right before a big move? My wife didn't know either. . . .)

The rack openings are 19 1/8 inches wide (486mm), which allows an oh-so-tiny bit of play side-to-side. I used to build racks with 19-inch (483mm) openings, which meant a tight, clean finish, but no room for error. The choice is yours. For more information about rack standards, including photos, see All About Racks & Rack Rails.

Front view

On the side view you can see I left room to stick my head in behind the base units and fiddle with wires. There's also a back brace that doubles as a support for deep and heavy rack units (like my sampler). The piece is not at risk of tipping over, because the bottom board extends back the full distance and the TS-12 provides a lot of weight over the front. (Note: The back feet somehow didn't make it into this image, so just pretend they're there -- they look just like the front feet but they're in back. =)

Side view

Made from 3/4-inch (19mm) cabinet-grade plywood, this piece is quite solid and stable. And it looks good, too.

I have several other designs with detailed plans available online, too. Lots of do-it-yourselfers, and a few complete novices have built these pieces successfully. For more information, see Recording Studio Workstation & Rack Plans. Here's some of what's available:

Here are a couple of thumbnails of the plans:

The Plywood Sheet

All the pieces fit nicely onto a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood (1220x2440 millimeters). You can get these sheets of plywood for as little as US$20 if you're not concerned with quality. I chose "cabinet grade" birch plywood with two good sides for US$55. Birch stains nicely, and it's easier to find matching edging tape (more later). Download the plans for the most current version of this layout.

The cabinet-grade plywood was a bit of a splurge -- I could have saved a bundle by using a lower grade or less expensive "generic" plywood . . . . or even particle board or MDF for that matter, but I strongly recommend plywood instead. It's sturdier, doesn't bend as easily, and holds screws MUCH better. It also looks a lot nicer when finished.)

Plywood cutting diagram

Since I prefer to have someone to blame when something goes wrong, I had the wood milled at the place where I bought it. Milling wood is very precise and costs about US$1 per cut, plus there's usually a set-up fee. It's only offered at some lumber yards so be sure to ask before you buy. Cutting out these pieces totaled US$20.

The Parts

So, about US$5 over budget, plus tax -- but I used a nice birch plywood, so if I really wanted to cut corners I could have built it all for about US$75. Plus now I have extra screws, dowels, wood tape, felt pads, and sandpaper left over for my next project. I already had the wood stain, so I didn't add that in to the total. (NOTE: Mega-stores like The Home Depot tend to have lower prices than smaller stores, but they usually do not have milling services.)

Where do you go to get these parts? Ask your local hardware store if they provide precision milling services. If not, ask them to refer you to a place that does. Buy the plywood at the same place you get it milled, but you'll probably want to buy all the other hardware at The Home Depot or a similar home center or mega-hardware store -- they tend to have great prices since they're bent on putting local hardware retailers out of business.

Finally you can pick up the rack rails at a local Guitar Center, online at Musician's Friend, or see if you have a local pro audio store nearby. I happened to find an amazing deal on the rails -- usually rails come in 2, 4, 10, 12, 16, and 18 spaces (not 8) and range in price from US$3 to US$27. To make two sets of 8-space rails, buy a set of 16-space rails for about US$25 and cut each side in half with a hack saw. You can get a cheap hack saw for about US$5, and it only takes a minute to make the cut -- it's actually a lot easier than you might think. For more information about rack rails and standards, see All About Racks & Rack Rails.

Rack rails & screws (mouse over then click)

You can get good deals on rack rails from stores that supply computer hardware rack-mount accessories. Click through some of the ads on this page for examples of what's available. You can also often find standard 17-inch rack rails on ebay for about a buck-a-U (for example, a pair of 16-space rails for $16).

Preparing the Pieces

The first thing I did was judge which pieces would go where -- including which sides were most presentable. I marked each piece with its location and orientation with a piece of masking tape. An example marking is "Left Base Unit, Left Side. up-^, forward->, (out)" which tells me that the piece is the left side of the left base unit. The side with the tape should be facing out, and the "up" and "forward" arrows indicate orientation.

Next I ran wood tape (edge banding) across all the visible edges. Edge banding is a great invention because you just iron it on to the edges and then trim off the excess. It sticks forever -- or at least for more than 10 years (when I started making this stuff).

If the banding starts to peel up in places before the glue has dried, simply put a piece of paper over the edge to protect the wood, then "clamp" the edge banding down with a piece of masking tape.

Edge banding supplies
$36.99	$15.69

Finally, I chose to sand and stain the wood. I found it easier to stain the wood before assembly. Staining is easy -- just rub the stain on, then wipe it back off again and let it dry. Your hands will get messy and so will your clothes, so it's a good idea to wear gloves and be. Also, be sure to properly dispose of the rags -- they can spontaneously catch fire if you're not careful. (Edge banding, by the way, tends to be a little blotchy when stained.)

Finishing supplies
$26.37	$11.04

Staining the pieces

I rewrote the piece names and orientations on an edge that would not be visible on the finished product.

Writing on the edges for identification

Installing the Feet

Install the adjustable-height feet by first drilling a hole and then inserting a plastic fitting that's threaded on the inside so the feet can turn and go in or out. I measured carefully so the feet would be 3/4-inch (19mm) from each bottom edge (the hole had to be 1 1/4-inch (32mm) from the edge because each foot had a 1-inch (25mm) diameter.

Depth stops & casters
$11.99

Measuring for foot placement

Be careful not to drill through the board! I used a depth stop just to be safe. You can see it attached to the drill bit in the photo with the drill just below. Another common trick is to make a depth gauge by simply wrapping a bit of tape around the drill bit at the depth you want -- just be careful that the tape doesn't slide up the drill bit as you drill more holes.

Installing the feet

Installing the Rack Rails

To install the rack rails I slid them up to the very top of the side piece, and inset them 1/4 inch (6mm). I could align the rails accurately with the help of a scrap board placed at the top edge of the side board (as shown in the photo) and a couple of C-clamps.

Useful supplies
		$14.99

Be sure not to directly clamp your good wood! I use pieces of wooden paint stirring sticks or other scraps of wood as a buffer to protect the workpiece from the clamps when necessary.

Clamping the rails in place.

Tighten the clamps gently, then nudge the rack rail around until it's in the perfect position, then tighten the clamps to secure the rack rail in place. Predrill the holes with the rail in place (again using a drill stop so you don't go through the board) and use the thickest 3/4-inch (19mm) screws that will still fit through the holes on the rails. I used #14 sheet metal screws. (Sheet metal screws are threaded all the way to the head of the screw, which I like in this case for extra holding power.)

Pre-drilling holes for rails.

I used four screws to fasten each rail.

Attaching the rails with screws.

While I was at it I marked exactly where the top of the back board was to fall. This board serves two functions. First it stabilizes the piece when there are no rack units installed. (This was important to me because the pieces will be supporting two expensive keyboards, regardless of whether or not they're filled with gear.) Second, the board can provide additional support deep and heavy rack units installed at the bottom of the rack rails. A deep and heavy piece will extend beyond the 12-inch (305mm) wide sides and will lay nicely on that supporting beam.

Marking for the placement of braces

Assembling the Base Units

Because the weight of the rack gear, keyboards, speakers, and shelf will all fall on the joints connecting the sides of the base units to the bottoms, it's crucial that it be as strong as it can be. For this reason I planned to use wooden dowels, wood screws, and even L-brackets to strengthen the joint. (I later determined that the L-brackets were not necessary.)

Illustration of braket and dowel positions.

It's a bit difficult to see, but the placement of the wooden dowels and screws alternate in the image above: four screws and three dowels.

Useful supplies
			$27.86

Start by drilling the holes for the dowels into the edges of the plywood, both on the bottom board and the back support board. You'll want to drill into the edges first because the nature of plywood (layers of various densities and types of woods) make it much more difficult to position the hole accurately. Often the drill bit will slip a bit and end up going into a softer layer of wood than the center layer. (This is okay unless the bit comes out the side!)

Make things a bit easier
$219.00	$25.19